


in space no one can hear you

by ninemoons42



Series: Dragon Effect - Annika [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5017378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninemoons42/pseuds/ninemoons42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ex-Cerberus soldier and survivor of the Kirkwall Colonies Cullen Rutherford has just undergone surgery to take out some of the less necessary implants from his body. Commander Annika Shepard might have some sympathy for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in space no one can hear you

There are still moments when he suddenly catches himself next to a reflective surface, and it’s all he can do to avoid flinching away, because the face that he sees is not a face that he knows. Too many things added and subtracted: lines around his eyes and lines pulling his mouth down –- and the lines that should have been there, except that they’re not.

Lines that he would have pulled out of his own skin and muscle if he hadn’t been stopped and restrained. The clip of a concerned salarian voice muttering vehemently at him. _I’ll do it. Not you. Won’t hurt if it’s me. Will hurt a lot if you do it without prior preparations._

So there’s no more red in his face. No more cracked lines. His face is still a map but the old fault lines have been smoothed over, and he almost wishes that they still gaped on his skin for all the galaxy to know who he used to be, know what he had almost done.

He’s flinching away from himself now –- he should have looked away more quickly from the elevator control panel –- but before he can stab at a random button and get out and _run_ at least as far as the ship’d let him the door opens again.

And Cullen Rutherford stops and stares because the woman slumping over in the corner only looks a whole lot like Commander Shepard.

Tank top with fraying edges, workout trousers pooled around her ankles, short red hair pointing in every direction. The pallor of her skin only highlights the constellations of freckles on her bared arms. 

But he’s not staring at her because there’s a flash of a different red around her wrists, ominous, and –- he can’t stop himself. He reaches out for her.

“Give me a moment, Rutherford,” she says, like the words are being sliced out of her. “I’m doing my very best to stop my instincts from taking over.”

“What would happen if they did?”

“You’d be headed to Mordin. Again. Broken bones at the very least.”

He watches as she reaches for the other control panel. Hits the button marked STOP. The cabin doesn’t jolt. They’re no longer moving.

“Came to see you, actually,” she continues, after a moment. “Figured you’d need someone to talk to.”

He blinks. Looks at the red lines that are still pulsing beneath the skin of his forearms. “You understand?”

“Not everything. Maybe just enough.” She’s still facing away from him, but he knows she’s pointing at her eyes. “Used to be I had these red lights in my eyes. Scared the fucking living shit out of everything and everyone. Right reaction if you ask me. I’m not exactly a favorite out in these parts.”

“You’re turning yourself inside out doing good things. Ma’am,” he tacks on, belatedly. She’s still the highest-ranked officer on this ship.

“Annika,” she says. “Call me Annika. We’re just two soldiers out of the wars here.”

“You wanted to see me.”

“In your bed, resting, as you’ve just had a major operation. I’m here if you want to talk, or if you don’t want to talk. Like I said, I understand enough.”

He watches her hit the control panel again. The elevator stops on the next floor. Crew Quarters. 

Down the corridor, head down, avoiding the reflective walls. She gets to the door of his room before he does. Waits. 

She looks patient.

Cullen sighs, and opens his door.

**Author's Note:**

> A new ongoing series, this one featuring my Paragade Commander Annika Shepard and her friend and maybe-safe-person, Cullen Rutherford.
> 
> I am also on [tumblr](http://ninemoons42.tumblr.com/) and my Dragon Age: Inquisition blog is [here](http://ninemoons42-inquisition.tumblr.com/).


End file.
